Hockenheim: Audi aiming for 'powerful start' at Hockenheim

Audi sets their sights on beginning the new DTM season in the same 'powerful way' in which they ended the 2015 campaign after winning the Hockenheim finale.

Audi believe they are suitably prepared to attack this weekend's Hockenheim DTM season opener in the same 'powerful' manner as they ended the 2015 campaign at the very same circuit.

The 'four-ringed' fleet of RS 5's turned the Hockenheimring into something of an Audi fortress during the 2015 season after winning all four of the races on offer - courtesy of the efforts from Jamie Green, Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekstrom.

However, Audi still fell short of claiming any overall DTM crown as Pascal Wehrlein and Mercedes stormed to the drivers' title while BMW held onto the manufacturers' crown.

Audi's head of DTM Dieter Gass is hopeful his squad can deliver following an extensive winter of preparation.

Quickest times during testing from Mike Rockenfeller and double champion Ekstrom during the official pre-season running meant Audi shared the testing honours with initial pacesetters BMW.

"At Audi Sport, we're excited to see what effects the fine-tuning of the regulations will have as well," said Gass.

"The winter was long, but productive. We're expecting an extremely close field. You can't afford to lose sight of any detail or have a bad patch if you want to win the title.

"Our aim is to pick up where we left off last year in a similarly powerful way. We prepared ourselves well and had four productive test days at Hockenheim in early April, among other things.

"But: everyone knows how close the competition is in the DTM. We're only going to see the relative strengths in qualifying on Saturday."